UK

The ninth edition of the Rough Guide to Wales is the ultimate travel guide to this incredibly varied country, with stunning photography (read more)

The ninth edition of the Rough Guide to Wales is the ultimate travel guide to this incredibly varied country, with stunning photography throughout. Whether you want to trek the Pembrokeshire Coast Path or let loose at Green Man festival, have a slap-up meal in foodie Abergavenny or chug through the Snowdonia mountains on the Ffestiniog Railway, you'll find all the practical details and inspiring ideas you'll need. Spanning the length and breadth of Wales, from tiny valley towns to bustling cities, this is the most comprehensive guide to the country.

Plan your trip using our colour-coded maps and up-to-date listings on the best places to stay, eat and drink in every corner of Wales. Whether you want detailed background or a quick idea of the highlights of each region, The Rough Guide to Wales has it all. Make the most of your time on Earth[trademark] with The Rough Guide to Wales. (hide)

High Wycombe, or simply Wycombe, has had a long and remarkable past: the Royal military academy was founded in the town in the late (read more)

High Wycombe, or simply Wycombe, has had a long and remarkable past: the Royal military academy was founded in the town in the late eighteenth century before moving to Sandhurst; Charles I passed through on his way to the scaffold in 1649; and Benjamin Disraeli, MP for the town between 1874 and 1880, made his first political speech from a portico in the high street. His home, Hughenden Manor, was used by bomber command planners during the Second World War, and it was there that the maps for the Dambusters raid on the Ruhr dams were created. Beneath the main high street is a honeycomb network of secret tunnels, originally thought to serve some clandestine purpose but in fact used by the brewery to transport beer to the many pubs throughout Wycombe as it was easier than negotiating the crowded streets.

Nearby is the village of Penn, the ancestral home of William Penn, founder of the city of Philadelphia and from whom the state of Pennsylvania takes its name. His sons lie buried in the churchyard. Bizarrely, the same churchyard contains the graves of David Blakeley, murdered by Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain, and the infamous Soviet spy, Donald Maclean.

Pub Date:01/01/2017 (hide)

A personal tour of twenty of the UK's most beguiling houses in this much loved area of western England. Author and architectural (read more)

A personal tour of twenty of the UK's most beguiling houses in this much loved area of western England. Author and architectural historian, Jeremy Musson, and Cotswolds-based photographer Hugo Rittson Thomas, offer privileged access to twenty houses, from castles and manor houses, as well as eighteenth- and nineteenth-century mansions, revealing their history, architecture and interiors, in the company of their devoted owners. In the footsteps of artists and designers including Humphry and George Repton, and Victorian visionary, William Morris, who inspired the arts and crafts movement, and others such as Detmar Blow, Norman Jewson, Clough Williams-Ellis and Oliver Hill, we find a series of fascinating country houses of different sizes and atmospheres, which have shaped the English identity. (hide)

When you ask most people about Liverpool, you could be forgiven for thinking that the city is only famous for its maritime history, (read more)

When you ask most people about Liverpool, you could be forgiven for thinking that the city is only famous for its maritime history, its two successful football teams or for being the birthplace of The Beatles - but there is so much more to this amazing city than meets the casual eye. Secret Liverpool is a gazetteer of the lesser-known places and little forgotten corners of the city, where tantalising clues to the region's past have miraculously survived, often hidden in plain sight among newer structures. Fully illustrated throughout with photographs and maps, this guide shows you where to go to find amazing locations that span over 3,000 years of history, from the semi-fossilised footprints of Neolithic hunters on the beaches of Formby to an amazing twentieth-century car graveyard in a disused railway tunnel.

Learn also about some of Merseyside's forgotten heroes; discover a few select viewing points where you can see semi-permanent mirages over the Mersey skyline; find out about the long lost underground grotto and tunnels said to be still in existence somewhere beneath Princes Park ...and much more besides. (hide)

Over 150 stunning archive photographs and paintings illustrate this mesmerising guide to London, seen through the eyes of Arthur (read more)

Over 150 stunning archive photographs and paintings illustrate this mesmerising guide to London, seen through the eyes of Arthur Conan Doyle and his most famous character. Ever since his creation, Sherlock Holmes has continued to enthral his readers and audiences: he is the world's favourite fiction detective and is indelibly linked to London. From the Hansom cabs hurtling through the city streets and thick fogs shrouding long lines of terraced houses, this was Sherlock's London.

It was a city at the nexus of a vast Empire and one of the wealthiest, largest and most populous of its day. Through early film, photography, paintings and original artifacts, the book explores the real Victorian London which was the backdrop for many of Conan Doyle's stories. Richly illustrated by the museums unrivalled collection and authoritatively written by Alex Werner, David Cannadine and other leading authorities on London, this book appeals to anyone who loves this beguiling city and wants to explore it as it was when Sherlock Holmes was brought to life. (hide)

A practical little walk guide to Northumbria endorsed by the Ramblers. All of the 20 walks are 5 miles or under in length and can (read more)

A practical little walk guide to Northumbria endorsed by the Ramblers. All of the 20 walks are 5 miles or under in length and can easily be completed in less than 3 hours. Clear Ordnance Survey maps show the route, along with easy-to-follow walk descriptions.

Northumbria offers diverse landscapes: the scenic North Sea Coast with its diverse wildlife, the bare moorland landscape of the Cheviot Hills and the historical interest of Hadrian's Wall lying along the Whin Sill. Many of the walks are located within the Northumberland National Park and the Northumberland Coast which is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. This guide, produced in co-operation with the Ramblers and featuring Ordnance Survey mapping, is the perfect way to get out and enjoy the stunning scenery.
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This new edition (the thirteenth) provides a comprehensive description of Sir John Soane's Museum in London's Lincoln's Inn Fields (read more)

This new edition (the thirteenth) provides a comprehensive description of Sir John Soane's Museum in London's Lincoln's Inn Fields and reflects recent changes to the Museum including the immaculate recreation of the Private Apartments, the Lobby off the Breakfast Room, and the Catacombs, all of which were opened after the previous edition went to press. It will serve both as a souvenir and as the most accurate account of Sir John Soane's remarkable creation. (hide)

The name Solway - path of the sun - speaks for itself. At certain times, the sea in the Solway Firth resembles a sheet of shimmering (read more)

The name Solway - path of the sun - speaks for itself. At certain times, the sea in the Solway Firth resembles a sheet of shimmering gold, a phenomenon that has given rise to many legends. This most beautiful and dangerous of seas has a tidal average of 30 feet that can reach 25/30 miles per hour, the average speed of a galloping horse.

Evidence of the sea's power has been well documented: in the 1700s an entire town was washed away into the Solway during a single storm. The Solway lies at the heart of the old Northern Lands and around its shores there is evidence of occupation and industry from prehistory up to the present day. Starting on the west side of the Solway, Helen Ivison takes the reader on a visual tour of this fascinating coastline, Whithorn to the village of St Bees further south.

Themes covered include history, folklore, flora and fauna, saints, rivers, fishing, ports, lifeboats, famous visitors including Dickens and many more. (hide)

For over 100 years the world's best motorcycle racers have pitted themselves against the gruelling 373/4 -mile Isle of Man Mountain (read more)

For over 100 years the world's best motorcycle racers have pitted themselves against the gruelling 373/4 -mile Isle of Man Mountain Course at the annual event known worldwide simply as 'the TT'. The Tourist Trophy meeting - to give its proper name - represents perhaps the greatest challenge that the sport of motorcycle racing can offer. The top names in road racing - Collier, Wood, Duke, Hailwood, Agostini, Hislop, Jefferies, McGuinness, Hutchinson and the Dunlop dynasty - have all considered the pursuit of a Tourist Trophy to be the ultimate goal.

From riding the earliest single-cylinder, belt-driven machines with outputs of under 10bhp, to coping with today's sophisticated four-cylinder machines giving well over 200bhp, generations of riders have risked their lives to satisfy the desire to go faster than the next man and to win a TT. In the process they have lifted lap speeds by almost 100mph. Exactly how that huge increase has been achieved is told within these pages, set against the background of the triumphs and the tragedies of the TT history.

Published:22 May 2017 (hide)

If it weren't for the determination and ambition of its owners and tenants, Speke Hall might not be here today. This romantic, homely (read more)

If it weren't for the determination and ambition of its owners and tenants, Speke Hall might not be here today. This romantic, homely and marvellously complete Tudor timber-framed house tells the histories and mysteries of families as they evolved through the heyday of the Tudor period, embraced the Victorian era and continued into the 20th century, and how they preserved their house for the years to come. Discover the stories of `Worthless Sidney' (grandson of Charles II and Nell Gwyn); shipping magnate Frederick Leyland, patron of Dante Gabriel Rossetti; and Adelaide Watt, who tightly managed the estate in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Surprising, enchanting and inspirational, this guidebook reveals why Speke Hall was once described by Dante Gabriel Rossetti as `one of the most glorious places in England'.
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